distance down Southern Avenue, which was then between the German
outpost line and our own. Another day we went to some high ground N.W.
of Wancourt for the purposes of observation. I remember that on this
occasion we had to hurry as the Germans were shelling rather close,
and General Rees got a splinter on the helmet. We were relieved by the
150th Infantry Brigade on April 21, and I rode back to Arras with
Capt. Haggie. I was now billeted for two days in a house in Arras,
where the Brigade Staff-Captain's office was located. The first night
was quiet enough, but the following night was not so pleasant. For our
heavy guns were now bombarding the German positions and their
long-range guns threw a lot of shells in reply into various parts of
the city. On April 23, St. George's Day, the British resumed the
attack and the 150th Infantry Brigade attacked from the top of
Wancourt Tower Hill. A good number of prisoners were made, but
Guemappe still held out and the Germans launched a heavy
counter-attack along this part of the front. In the morning I went
forward to some dugouts east of Telegraph Hill where the General,
Brigade-Major, and Signalling Officer were stationed for this battle.
Our Brigade of course was in reserve, except the 4th N.F. who were
attached to the 151st Infantry Brigade. From this place near Telegraph
Hill I got a good view of the battle around Guemappe. About midday
Brigadier-General Cameron of the 151st Infantry Brigade took over
command of the 50th Divisional front, and at once made preparations to
renew the attack in the afternoon. I was sent over to the Elm Trees
dugouts to find out exactly what he proposed to do with the 4th N.F.,
and he was then busily engaged with the Artillery officers arranging
the barrages. Before the attack was resumed, Guemappe was heavily
shelled by our siege guns, a wonderful sight. The whole place seemed
to disappear in dense clouds of dust and smoke. It had been a
ding-dong battle all day, attack and counter-attack, and at this point
neither side had gained much advantage. The Germans had not only
repelled the attack on our right, but had attempted to push through
into Héninel, in the Cojeul Valley. Fortunately, however, the 149th
M.-G. Company, commanded by Major Morris, stopped this movement by a
well-directed fire to our right flank. When, however, the attack was
renewed in the afternoon things went better for us. The Germans were
pushed down the hill from Wancourt Tower and Guemappe was taken. The
4th N.F. did well, getting to a place called Buck Trench. And the
Divisional front was advanced to a point not far from the outskirts
of Cherisy. It was unfortunate that we had no fresh troops at this
juncture to press home the attack. According to German statements, the
German troops were practically broken up at the end of the day and
they had at the moment no reserves available. Our small party remained
at the H.Q. on Telegraph Hill till the morning of April 25, when we
returned to the Ronville sugar factory, being relieved by a Brigade of
the 14th Division.
On April 26 a large Corps dump about a quarter of a mile from the
factory got on fire, and went on flaring and exploding all day. A good
many pieces of shells and fragments from this dump came rattling
against the walls of the sugar factory, making it no place to loiter
about. I learnt that the 42nd F.A., to which my brother George was
attached, was due to take over from our F.A. in Ronville; but I did
not get in touch with him.
On April 26 B.H.Q. moved to a fine château at the west end of Arras,
where we were much more comfortable than at the sugar factory. That
night I went to a battalion dinner of the 7th N.F., and it was
wonderful what a good dinner they managed to procure under the
circumstances. The next day, April 27, we marched back to a rest area
near Pommera, going along the Arras-Doullens road. B.H.Q. were
billeted in a farm at the south end of the village. I shared a billet
with Lieut. Odell and found the place very comfortable.
We were not left long here. A fresh attack was to be made, and the
50th Division was to be moved forward, to be ready to press home the
attack if it succeeded. We left Pommera on May 1 and marched to
Souastre, where B.H.Q. were billeted in a French château with a nice
garden. Next day we marched forward again to a bare looking spot at
Mereatel, where the accommodation was very limited. We managed to rig
up a few wooden shelters and bivouacs amongst the ruins of the houses.
This had been a nice village, but the Germans had blown down every
house and cut down every tree before they left it. They had even
destroyed the small fruit bushes in the gardens, an unnecessarily
wanton act.
The big attack was arranged for May 3 and it was preceded by the usual
heavy bombardment. But nothing came of it but heavy casualties, and it
was decided to send the Division back to the rest area again. On the
evening of May 3 I met a Colonel of the R.A.M.C., 14th Division, who
told me that he had seen my brother George at Neuville Vitasse just
two hours before, and that he was quite well. I got this information,
just too late, as we were now under orders to move back to the rest
area. And on May 4 I marched back with the B.H.Q. transport to
Souastre, and on May 5 to Pommera.
For the next ten days the Brigade carried out various tactical
exercises under the directions of General Rees. One day was given to
field firing practice, on which occasion I acted as one of the
'casualty' officers--that is to say, I had to select various men
during the sham attack and order them to drop out as casualties. Live
ammunition was used in rifles and Lewis guns as well as live
rifle-grenades; and I remember there were seven slight casualties from
accidents with the rifle-grenades. These 'live' field days in France
were not without their own little excitements, especially for those
who had to keep up with the firing line.
After ten days the Brigade was detached from the 50th Division and
attached to the 33rd Division, holding the line about Croisilles. The
idea was to assist the 33rd Division by holding the line for them for
three days, in the interval between two attacks. So on May 17 the
Brigade moved from Pommera to Souastre, H.Q. being again at the French
château. Here, through the good services of our French interpreter, we
had for dinner a piece of the famous _sanglier_ which lives in the
woods at Pommera. One of these creatures had been shot, and the
huntsmen presented a piece of it to B.H.Q. Mess. It tasted much like
pork, with a more gamy flavour.
On May 18 we moved from Souastre to Boiry St. Martin, where B.H.Q.
were in some wooden huts, amongst the ruins of the village. On May 19
I went over to Ayette, a neighbouring village, and spent the morning
training men of the 7th N.F. in rifle-grenades. Next day I went with
Capt. Haggie to inspect a Brigade ammunition dump at Croisilles, and
on May 21 I went to a canvas camp at Hamlincourt and spent the night
there. I did not get a good night as the enemy shelled the vicinity of
the camp at intervals during the night. Next day I went forward to
B.H.Q. which were in some shelters in a sunken road just west of
Croisilles. We held the line till May 25 and nothing very startling
happened. But two or three incidents occurred here which I remember
with interest. The visit of three War Correspondents, including
Messrs. Beach Thomas and Philip Gibbs. They spent about half an hour
at our H.Q. and were put in my charge to see the sights. We did not go
far from H.Q. as the high ground there afforded the best general view
of the country round.
Both of the English War Correspondents interested me much. Beach
Thomas, tall and dignified and grave; Philip Gibbs, short and bright
and cheery: both very sympathetic to and appreciative of the Brigade.
The other was a Dutch gentleman who told me with a flash of
inspiration that I should not recollect his name.
Another striking personality appeared in the shape of the Brigade
Commander of one of the Divisional Artillery Brigades. Col. Fitzgerald
came to call on us to inquire whether the artillery arrangements were
to our satisfaction and to know if he could do anything to help us. A
tall man with glasses and a kindly, gentle face. One morning he
brought in a great bunch of flowers for our mess room that he had
gathered near Croisilles. The following story was brought to us by the
Artillery Liaison Officer. Col. Fitzgerald went to the front line and
out into the broken trenches in No Man's Land in order to inspect the
registration of the field guns. Seeing a German sniper at work, he
borrowed a rifle and commenced a duel with the Boche in which several
shots were exchanged. Having killed his man he returned with great
satisfaction, feeling the day had been well spent. This occurred near
the 'Hump' whilst we were holding these trenches. He told us that his
guns had had a wonderful target on the Somme in July 1916. They were
somewhere on the high ground south of Bazentin-le-Grand when the
German Guard had massed for an attack on Contalmaison. These guns had
the extraordinary chance of firing with open sights on the dense
German masses behind Bazentin-le-Petit and they had inflicted terrible
losses on the Brandenburghers.
It was from our O.P. near B.H.Q. that I first tried to make a
panoramic sketch of the country in front. It was a crude attempt, no
doubt, but General Rees was kind enough to speak encouragingly of it,
and to tell me to try and develop this side of Intelligence.
That advice bore fruit, for in 1918 my observers were trained to
sketch, and their sketches did more damage to the enemy than any
reports that were sent in. For the heavy artillery got interested in
them and fired on the targets with great effect.
About May 25 we came out of the line and stayed one night at
Moyenneville, returning next day to our Divisional rest area at
Monchy-au-Bois.
XXIV
MONCHY-AU-BOIS
We were now able to settle down to training and manoeuvres. The
country round Monchy was well suited for this, for there were many old
German trenches about, and the villages were all smashed to bits,
giving a realistic touch to field training. B.H.Q. were under canvas,
but I selected an old German dugout which I thought would be drier
when the rains set in. It was also cooler in the hot weather, and its
only drawback was rats. I kept them in check, however, with a small
trap that the Germans left behind; they were always good at inventing
killing machines. My own job was now to train as many infantry men as
possible in the use of the rifle-grenade. And between May 29 and June
16, 190 men went through the course. Also Lieut. Odell brought his
signal company of twenty-nine men one evening to be shown the working
of the rifle-grenade, as it was thought that the rifle-grenade (empty)
might be used as a message carrier.
The course of instruction was somewhat as follows. In the first place
I gave a short lecture on the mechanism of the grenade and methods of
firing it. Then the party of ten was split into two squads and firing
practice took place. The men were trained to fire kneeling and lying,
behind cover and without, and also out of a deep fire-trench. I was
greatly assisted by Sergt. T. Matthewson, who was a really expert
bomber, and by my orderly--L.-C. Fairclough. This training took all
morning, and as far as I could judge the men were interested in the
course and did their best to learn the intricacies of this new weapon.
In the afternoon I was free to wander round and examine the
surrounding country. It was of considerable interest, for it was part
of the ground evacuated by the enemy when he retreated to the
Hindenburg Line. The trenches were magnificently built, and revetted
with wood or wattle-work, and provided with deep dugouts and concrete
machine-gun emplacements. The latter were not only wonderfully strong,
the forerunners of the German 'pill-box'--but sometimes wonderfully
decorated with coats of arms and mottoes.
Very little equipment was left behind, and many of the dugouts were
blown in before leaving. Some of the gun emplacements, too, were very
cleverly concealed. The guns were kept in shelters in a line of
reserve trenches and a set of dummy emplacements was dug out a little
distance away for the benefit of our aeroplane observers.
It was an education in military engineering and fortification to walk
round these wonderful defences. The wiring too was most ingenious and
often carefully concealed in the hedges or ditches. Inside the gun
shelters, you found that the gun was fixed on a central pivot and
worked round a wooden platform with every degree carefully marked.
Whilst on the walls stood a painted board with every barrage line and
target carefully worked out, and the range and code call set out as
well. The O.P. was sometimes in a high tree, with the ladders to get
up and the telephone wires still remaining. It had been a quiet part
of the line, and consequently the patient industry of the German had
had full scope.
The 50th Division began to take over the line west of Cherisy and Vis
about the middle of June; but only two brigades were in the front
trenches together, and it was our turn to remain behind. On June 18
the Brigade moved from Monchy-au-Bois to Boisleux-au-Mont, where
B.H.Q. were in a canvas camp. From June 20 to 23 I continued the
rifle-grenade training. The recruit training was now practically over
and these days were given to showing the handling of a rifle-grenade
section in open warfare. Forty-one officers, nine N.C.O.'s and
sixty-two men took part in these schemes. I had also two or three
rather important court-martial cases to attend to during the evenings.
Before going back into the line I was given nine men to act as Brigade
observers; the 6th N.F. sent L.-C. Chappell and Ptes. Wright and Hume;
the 7th N.F. Ptes. Fail and Ewart; the 4th N.F. Pte. Brook and
another; the 5th N.F. L.-C. Roxburgh, who had once been in the 7th
N.F. and Pte. Garnett. Pte. Brook I found came from Meltham, only
seven or eight miles from my own home. He was a typical lad from these
parts, with the bright red face and the speech that I knew so well.
Naturally I took an interest in him and I was sorry when he left us
about the end of November 1917. He has come through the war safely, I
am glad to say. Ptes. Fail and Ewart were destined to act as my
observers both with this brigade and in the 42nd Division in 1918. And
I cannot speak too highly of the excellent work done by Pte. Fail.
Owing to exceptional eyesight he was a first-class counter-battery
observer, and later on his skill with the pencil did the Germans a lot
of damage. On this front he spotted the flash of a 4-inch gun battery
that used to shell B.H.Q., with the result that the heavy gunners
fired on this battery and silenced it completely.
I had also the services of L.-C. J. Cowen and Pte. J. King (both 7th
N.F.) when the 50th Divisional observers were disbanded. Pte. King
went shortly afterwards back to the battalion. But both these men did
magnificent service in collecting intelligence during the remainder of
the war.
XXV
TRENCH WARFARE--VIS-CHERISY FRONT
From June till October 1917 the 50th Division held the line of trenches
running from the Hindenburg Line west of Fontaine-lez-Croisilles to
Cavalry Farm on the Arras-Cambrai Road. With heavy fighting going on in
Flanders this was a comparatively quiet part of the front. Our trenches
were good and got better every week, and the high ground about Wancourt
Tower Hill gave us excellent observation on the enemy's country,
especially towards the left. This part of the front was divided into
two sectors, and they were held by two out of the three brigades. So
that each brigade spent sixteen days in the line, and then eight days
in the rest area about Neuville Vitasse. Also each brigade held in turn
the trenches on the right, known as the Cherisy sector, and then the
trenches on the left, known as the Vis sector.
My time was given to Intelligence in the line and to Salvage when out
of the line.
Intelligence work included, selecting a convenient O.P. for the
Brigade observers and arranging and supervising the method of holding
it; making panoramic sketches for the observers; writing out the
Brigade Intelligence Report between 10 A.M. and noon every day;
supervising the work of the Battalion Intelligence Officers[14];
marking the Brigade Intelligence maps with all features of interest;
studying and cataloguing the aeroplane photographs which came in large
numbers every few days; destroying obsolete and useless documents (not
a small part of my job either!); and sending to the Machine-Gun
Officer, Major Morris, every week the targets for indirect machine-gun
fire at nights. Field work, i.e. actual observation and sketching,
formed really a comparatively small part of my duties, though I tried
to get up to the observation post once every day. The most important
part was office work--and I had a fair-sized shelter at each
Head-quarters, the walls covered with maps and the table loaded with
aeroplane photographs and reports of all kinds.
Besides the Corps and Divisional Intelligence Reports which came in
daily, there were Daily Reports from the two adjoining brigades, and
generally a goodly sheaf of miscellaneous papers from the Army
Intelligence Department. In this way a great deal of interesting
information came into my hands, as to how things were going on; and I
have never before or since been so well supplied with information as
to what was going on and what was intended to take place. When out of
the line, in a camp near Neuville Vitasse, I had to give the observers
a certain amount of practical training in the use of the compass and
protractor, and map reading. But after that I was free to do what I
liked within reason, and I generally devoted my spare time to salvage.
The observers often turned out to assist me in this, and Lieut. Odell
on several occasions gave me most valuable assistance with his
signallers and orderlies.
Salvage was left very much at this time to the discretion of the
commanders of infantry units. Naturally when the soldier man got out
of the line, he was not much inclined to do much salvaging on Army
Account. Some of the transport officers made a specialty of it, and
Capt. B. Neville of the 7th N.F., the prince of quartermasters,
rescued tons of salvage of all kinds. I dare say, however, a good many
things found their way into his own stores as well, for I never knew a
quartermaster so well supplied as he. There were certain small parties
of men employed at Divisional and Corps Salvage dumps, but they never
seemed to me to take the job very seriously. Perhaps the officers in
charge were not exactly the sort of men to hustle, or to see that
their men got busy. Every one knows that there was a vast amount of
waste, and that the Germans had this matter much better organised than
we.
The Germans were particularly active against our field artillery on
this front. Although we had the advantage of ground for most purposes,
and could carry out infantry reliefs in daylight, there were few
places satisfactory for concealing our field guns. They were mostly
concentrated about Wancourt and Héninel, and these two places
consequently received frequent and heavy punishment from the German
heavies. It was well to keep your eyes and ears open when passing
through these villages and not to linger there unnecessarily. The
pieces from the German 8-inch shell carried a long way, and I had
L.-C. Chappell wounded through the hand and sent down to hospital
through a splinter that carried over a quarter of a mile. We saw a lot
of the 50th Divisional R.F.A. about this time and a fine lot of
fellows they were. On the left our H.Q. were next door to the B.H.Q.
of the 251st Artillery Brigade, commanded by Lieut.-Col. Moss
Blundell. I got to know and like him well, and he did everything he
could to assist our brigade, and especially in matters of
intelligence. Any news that he got he sent on to us at once and vice
versa. I have never known the liaison between Field Artillery and
Infantry more close or more effective than at this time.
One of the most important operations carried out by the 50th Division
was a double raid and gas projection on September 15, 1917, and the
following night. It was carried out by the 151st Infantry Brigade in
the right sector, and at the time the 140th Infantry Brigade was
holding the trenches on the left. I believe the 9th D.L.I, supplied
the raiding parties. It was such a novel and effective raid that some
account ought to be given of it. The scheme was to deceive the enemy
as to the exact extent and nature of the attack. For this purpose a
great many smoke-shells were fired to screen the operations from the
enemy's observation. Also along the flanks of the actual raid a number
of dummy figures were arranged to represent an attacking force and so
to draw the enemy's fire away from the actual raiding parties. The
dummies were put out in No Man's Land the night before, face
downwards, and at the right moment they could be raised or lowered by
means of ropes worked by the men in the trenches. Also a dummy tank
was prepared and hauled forward 200 yards by means of ropes. The
combination of smoke-shells and dummies was wonderfully effective, and
the enemy reported that he had been attacked in great force and with
tanks along a large part of this front.
What really happened was this. After a preliminary bombardment of
great intensity by our guns and trench-mortars (including many
thermite or flame-shells), about 2 P.M. three companies of the 9th
D.L.I, dashed across and captured the German front and support lines
covering Cherisy. They killed and captured a number of Germans without
suffering many casualties themselves, and then returned at once to our
own trenches. At the same time the dummies in No Man's Land were
lowered again. After waiting five or six hours, another short
bombardment started, the dummies were again raised and one company of
the 9th D.L.I, dashed across into the same trenches and killed or
captured more Germans. They then returned to our trenches and the
dummies were again lowered. After dark our men went out and removed
the dummies, so that the Germans never had a chance of discovering the
ruse. The same night at 3 A.M. fifty cylinders of gas were projected
over the German lines. This gas attack cost the Germans dear, probably
more than the two raids, for the next day they were seen burying or
removing large numbers of the men caught in the gas cloud. My own
observers reported 200 gas casualties and the total number reported
reached a figure between 300 and 400. Gas casualties were easily
distinguished, as the Germans removed them in blankets slung between
two men on a pole. Besides, as it happened, the gas cloud drifted
north and caught the Germans during a relief nearly half a mile away
from the scene of the two raids. For example, the Germans were burying
dead all day in the neighbourhood of St. Roharts Factory, which is
some distance from Cherisy. The German report of this operation showed
that they had failed entirely to realise the nature of the attack. And
a similar raid was repeated shortly afterwards near Monchy-le-Preux
with great success. Our aeroplanes swooped down to 300 feet and took
photographs of the first raid from that height. And I was lucky enough
to secure some very interesting copies of these photographs, which
showed our men crossing No Man's Land and entering the German
trenches.
I got my fourth leave, ten days, about August 30 and travelled home
via Boulogne and Folkestone. It was the first leave that took me out
of the line, which it did for about four days. All the previous
leaves had occurred during Divisional rests.
We were relieved in these trenches by the 51st Division about the
beginning of October, and the 50th Division moved out of the line to
the neighbourhood of Courcelles-le-Compte for a short rest.
Before the relief took place Brigadier-General Rees had to leave us
much to every one's regret. He was taken ill with a distressing
internal complaint, which necessitated his return for a while to
England. He was succeeded by Brigadier-General E.P.A. Riddell, C.M.G.,
D.S.O.